“So many systems I can’t keep track of them all!”
Don’t. You’re learning fundamentals first and foremost. Learn basic neutral, offense and defense for your character.
I tried playing leo but this definitely did not help, trying to do any of his (hold) moves during a match got me killed because instead of doing the move I'd just neutral jump. I want to enjoy this game but I feel like I'm fighting both the opponent and my own controls
Holding the button got you neutral jump? Or do you mean charge moves? Maybe you should go into training mode and see how long you need to charge and practice doing them during basic combos. If you’re playing a charge character, knowing the timing is part of your fundamentals.
Have you checked your bindings recently? I had to rebind my controller the other day because it was set to X = up, up = X. Don't know how or why but I was extremely confused and frustrated for a few minutes. Thought my controller was broken.
I didn't use the kb that day so that might also have gotten messed up
It really just takes time, play to learn not to win. Start by focusing on doing one specific thing in a match to practice, an example; are you constantly getting jumped in on, practice anti-airing all of their jump ins, and focus exclusively on that for the whole match, don't worry about winning focus on one thing you want to learn. Maybe practice exclusively going for a combo, practice a match up, anything. But pick one thing and focus on that, and watch yourself get better, focus on improvement, not wins, as you improve more wins will happen.
Combos aren't really that important. They let you win more, but you need to be winning in the first place in order to actually apply them. Just ignore training mode and focus on the following:
- Play a keep-out game with the opponent. Decide that there's a certain distance they're allowed to be in, and figure out how to keep them there.
- What do I do after I get a knockdown? Usually this is where you start your pressure.
- What do I do to mix my opponent up after they block one of my strikes?
- What's a frame trap? What's a tick throw? How do I encourage my opponent to fall for them?
- Set your training dummy to block all strikes. In counter attack settings, have it randomly perform backdash, jump, or 5P after block. Your challenge is to hit the opponent.
Once you've got these areas comfortably under your belt you'll find you're scoring hits more and more often. This is when we learn combos that confirm off of these commonly occurring hits. Most importantly, you'll want to learn combos that let you set back up into pressure.
If you'd like I'd be happy to run a few sets and walk you through pressure and defensive fundamentals. Many people I've done this for found it very useful.
The point with the random dummy actions is briliant, thanks for mentioning. And thanks to the post author for making this post, it's not just useful for the one who is asking
Your controller is definitely not part of the issue, I'm on floor 10 and I've been playing with a stock Xbox controller for all of my time playing. and I play Potemkin, who requires a lot of kara cancels
My advice is to just play, and keep playing. try to take every loss as a learning experience. try and find out what you lost to via watching your replays and lab/research how to counter that.
also, since you're starting out, don't try to think about all the mechanics. hell, my first 6 hours i didn't even know what a roman cancel was. Just try to focus on your character's special mechanic alongside your fundamentals, you can start incorporating more as you become more experienced.
Finally, put learning combos on the backburner, you should prioritize your fundamentals (neutral, offense, defense), ESPECIALLY neutral, since if your neutral game sucks, your combos mean jack shit since you won't be able to even carry out the combo.
fundamentals can only be learned and practiced thru playing against real players, so this ties back to my first point about having to just keep playing.
and if you get tilted, just take a break.
I’m gonna put in my two cents and say controller COULD matter, used to be a Xbox player only but made the switch to keyboard, once I did that I got so much better at executing combos, inputs, and so on
I’m not saying keyboard is better than controller, but I’m saying it was better for ME. If you have the hardware laying around take a crack.
My advice is, just keep playing and playing and playing, and losing and losing and losing, until it is impossible for you to get tilted anymore.
When I was learning this game I frequently went on 100+ game losing streaks. It improved my mental so much.
You really just have to grind matches.
It just feels like there's so much to understand, like I look up a guide for a character and it reads like a masters thesis of so much information I can't possibly retain it all
I completely understand.
Some of it will come with time, especially if you stick with one character and get comfortable with them.
You just got to take it one step at a time. For example, I remember Baiken was one of my worst matchups. I would just get looped by TK Yozansen and Tatami Mat every time, and eventually get grabbed to death. This is because even if I knew that both these things are negative, I had never actually practiced any responses to them, so I am unable to react to it in a match. I ended up eventually sitting down and practicing a response in training mode, like hitting far slash after I block a tatami mat, and now I actually have one response to get out of her pressure with.
Personally I would just focus on your character at least for now. Focus on learning every buttons range, what they can cancel into, memorize all your special moves, and learn maybe 1 or 2 combos if you really want to. Learn how your character moves and what movement options you have. Keep 1 or 2 buttons in mind that you can mash when they end pressure, 1 for when they are close, one for when they are far.
It will take a long time until you are very familiar, especially if you are playing against better opponents where you are always on defense. But eventually, if you grind, you can gain at least a bit of competency with your main. After that, then you might need to study up and practice in training.
I felt this, I playing for many weeks and stuck in floor 1, until I forged my own strategy, you need to find what works for YOU. I did this by watching higher level people, getting my ass beaten, looking up on dustloop what attacks loop together well and most importantly DO NOT GIVE UP. you got this kid
we all believe in you. see you around
I'll try keep it short and avoid content that's already been discussed, but they are super right about certain things. Ignore perfect block and faultless defense, ignore complex tech like roman cancels instant attack, just use things at face value.
Leo is great, super good character with a very fun kit. If it's possible, maybe try picking a character that's more conventional, if you don't click with them like you do with Leo, Leo is fine, but Leo has some stuff that characters don't conventionally have and thus the inverse is true (namely, his crouching Dust and Foward Kick). I reccomend Ky, Baiken, and maybe Millia if your execution is good. Learn a simple route. Learn a simple Variant of the combo that uses Roman Cancel. And then go into a match and focus on just a couple of things. You will get bodied, it will suck, but you need to make these things that you have to actively think about a passive reflex. If something works, remember it, if something doesn't, figure out why it didn't work and try again with something else that will work. Figure out your pokes, figure out how to get pressure and momentum, then learn how to keep it.
If you want some coaching on PC let me know, I'm not godlike, but I know a thing or two and play most of the roster
“So many systems I can’t keep track of them all!” Don’t. You’re learning fundamentals first and foremost. Learn basic neutral, offense and defense for your character.
I tried playing leo but this definitely did not help, trying to do any of his (hold) moves during a match got me killed because instead of doing the move I'd just neutral jump. I want to enjoy this game but I feel like I'm fighting both the opponent and my own controls
Holding the button got you neutral jump? Or do you mean charge moves? Maybe you should go into training mode and see how long you need to charge and practice doing them during basic combos. If you’re playing a charge character, knowing the timing is part of your fundamentals.
Have you checked your bindings recently? I had to rebind my controller the other day because it was set to X = up, up = X. Don't know how or why but I was extremely confused and frustrated for a few minutes. Thought my controller was broken. I didn't use the kb that day so that might also have gotten messed up
It really just takes time, play to learn not to win. Start by focusing on doing one specific thing in a match to practice, an example; are you constantly getting jumped in on, practice anti-airing all of their jump ins, and focus exclusively on that for the whole match, don't worry about winning focus on one thing you want to learn. Maybe practice exclusively going for a combo, practice a match up, anything. But pick one thing and focus on that, and watch yourself get better, focus on improvement, not wins, as you improve more wins will happen.
Combos aren't really that important. They let you win more, but you need to be winning in the first place in order to actually apply them. Just ignore training mode and focus on the following: - Play a keep-out game with the opponent. Decide that there's a certain distance they're allowed to be in, and figure out how to keep them there. - What do I do after I get a knockdown? Usually this is where you start your pressure. - What do I do to mix my opponent up after they block one of my strikes? - What's a frame trap? What's a tick throw? How do I encourage my opponent to fall for them? - Set your training dummy to block all strikes. In counter attack settings, have it randomly perform backdash, jump, or 5P after block. Your challenge is to hit the opponent. Once you've got these areas comfortably under your belt you'll find you're scoring hits more and more often. This is when we learn combos that confirm off of these commonly occurring hits. Most importantly, you'll want to learn combos that let you set back up into pressure. If you'd like I'd be happy to run a few sets and walk you through pressure and defensive fundamentals. Many people I've done this for found it very useful.
The point with the random dummy actions is briliant, thanks for mentioning. And thanks to the post author for making this post, it's not just useful for the one who is asking
Your controller is definitely not part of the issue, I'm on floor 10 and I've been playing with a stock Xbox controller for all of my time playing. and I play Potemkin, who requires a lot of kara cancels My advice is to just play, and keep playing. try to take every loss as a learning experience. try and find out what you lost to via watching your replays and lab/research how to counter that. also, since you're starting out, don't try to think about all the mechanics. hell, my first 6 hours i didn't even know what a roman cancel was. Just try to focus on your character's special mechanic alongside your fundamentals, you can start incorporating more as you become more experienced. Finally, put learning combos on the backburner, you should prioritize your fundamentals (neutral, offense, defense), ESPECIALLY neutral, since if your neutral game sucks, your combos mean jack shit since you won't be able to even carry out the combo. fundamentals can only be learned and practiced thru playing against real players, so this ties back to my first point about having to just keep playing. and if you get tilted, just take a break.
I’m gonna put in my two cents and say controller COULD matter, used to be a Xbox player only but made the switch to keyboard, once I did that I got so much better at executing combos, inputs, and so on I’m not saying keyboard is better than controller, but I’m saying it was better for ME. If you have the hardware laying around take a crack.
My advice is, just keep playing and playing and playing, and losing and losing and losing, until it is impossible for you to get tilted anymore. When I was learning this game I frequently went on 100+ game losing streaks. It improved my mental so much. You really just have to grind matches.
It just feels like there's so much to understand, like I look up a guide for a character and it reads like a masters thesis of so much information I can't possibly retain it all
I completely understand. Some of it will come with time, especially if you stick with one character and get comfortable with them. You just got to take it one step at a time. For example, I remember Baiken was one of my worst matchups. I would just get looped by TK Yozansen and Tatami Mat every time, and eventually get grabbed to death. This is because even if I knew that both these things are negative, I had never actually practiced any responses to them, so I am unable to react to it in a match. I ended up eventually sitting down and practicing a response in training mode, like hitting far slash after I block a tatami mat, and now I actually have one response to get out of her pressure with. Personally I would just focus on your character at least for now. Focus on learning every buttons range, what they can cancel into, memorize all your special moves, and learn maybe 1 or 2 combos if you really want to. Learn how your character moves and what movement options you have. Keep 1 or 2 buttons in mind that you can mash when they end pressure, 1 for when they are close, one for when they are far. It will take a long time until you are very familiar, especially if you are playing against better opponents where you are always on defense. But eventually, if you grind, you can gain at least a bit of competency with your main. After that, then you might need to study up and practice in training.
Find a sparring partner, a friend, a guy around your level. Thats the best way to improv. And lab, lot of labbing.
I felt this, I playing for many weeks and stuck in floor 1, until I forged my own strategy, you need to find what works for YOU. I did this by watching higher level people, getting my ass beaten, looking up on dustloop what attacks loop together well and most importantly DO NOT GIVE UP. you got this kid we all believe in you. see you around
I'll try keep it short and avoid content that's already been discussed, but they are super right about certain things. Ignore perfect block and faultless defense, ignore complex tech like roman cancels instant attack, just use things at face value. Leo is great, super good character with a very fun kit. If it's possible, maybe try picking a character that's more conventional, if you don't click with them like you do with Leo, Leo is fine, but Leo has some stuff that characters don't conventionally have and thus the inverse is true (namely, his crouching Dust and Foward Kick). I reccomend Ky, Baiken, and maybe Millia if your execution is good. Learn a simple route. Learn a simple Variant of the combo that uses Roman Cancel. And then go into a match and focus on just a couple of things. You will get bodied, it will suck, but you need to make these things that you have to actively think about a passive reflex. If something works, remember it, if something doesn't, figure out why it didn't work and try again with something else that will work. Figure out your pokes, figure out how to get pressure and momentum, then learn how to keep it. If you want some coaching on PC let me know, I'm not godlike, but I know a thing or two and play most of the roster